We are living in a story.
If we realize this, it takes away a weight. We aren’t writing our own story.
In a story, characters have their own motivations and they follow them. But the whole architecture of the story, where it goes, how it ends, that’s in the hands of the story-teller.
In the story of the Prodigal Son, the younger son has motivation: to get out and have fun. The father has motivation: to love his son. Neither of them knows how the story will work out. They just follow that which drives them.
What drives you? Follow that. (If it’s a good thing.) What constrains you? Let that also steer your course. Then let the Storyteller do his stuff.
Not sure about this one. Herod was part of the story and followed what drove him. We are in the story but we need to learn from the story too. That is how we might identify what is good.